Only A Moment
by Liari
Summary: AU ONESHOT Ami speaks to her mother about her life, her friends, and how she's trying to move on.


_A/N- Just a moment in Ami's life as she speaks to her mother about how things are now. Once again, sorry for the long delay on the chapter for Capturing The Moment, and here's a little extra for you._

_Disclaimer- I do not own Sailor Moon. _

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"_Is this Ami Mizuno?"_

"_Yes, this is she."_

"_Miss Mizuno, I'm sorry, but we're calling about your mother…"_

Smoke rose from the incense on the table and added a tang to the air as it obscured the face in the photo. Not that Ami needed to see that to remember every line, curve, nuance of her mother's face. Still, the photographer had been good; he'd captured Shizuka Mizuno's graceful tranquility perfectly, her elegant smile gentle and sweet.

She'd prepared rice to offer, and now set it in the dish. "I made you rice, mom." Tears welled in her eyes briefly before she dashed them away. "I miss you." She knew she was just talking to a photograph, but it at least felt like talking to her mother again. "It's been a year, but it feels longer. I'm sorry, but I moved out of the condo. I couldn't stay there, not without you. I have a little apartment now, just a one-bedroom, but I think you would've liked it. Also, I kept our cottage, but I'm redoing it. Right now I'm adding another room; I think I'll make it an office." She bowed her head, trying hard to keep from crying.

"The patient who killed you is doing better now. I know you'd be glad to hear it. He's in a facility that can handle him now, and is in rehab. He's also taking his meds on a regular basis. It helps. The hospital keeps me up on him; I guess they knew how much you'd want to know, too. I..I spoke with him the other day. He apologized… I told him that you wouldn't ever blame him for what he did, especially since he was trying to make things better. He asked if I forgave him…and I didn't know what to say. I understand that he wasn't really himself when he did it, but- I just don't know. It's harder than it should be. I miss you so much…" The tears were falling now; she couldn't stop them anymore. They tracked crystal lines down her cheeks, sorrow given form.

"The girls have been fantastic through all of it. They helped me with all the painting when I redid the rooms in the cottage, and Mako cooked for me for about a month, and still brings stuff over now and then. Minako made me a whole new wardrobe! It was so sweet of her. She's got her own business now, and it's really doing well. Fashion, of course, just like she always wanted. Mako's expanded her little restaurant, and is talking about adding some more stores. Usagi is almost done with her degree, and absolutely ecstatic about teaching; her old school is offering her a position as a kindergarten teacher. Rei is in a creative frenzy; she's pouring out more songs than she knows what to do with. Oh, and did I mention that Usagi and Mamoru finally got together? About time, too. Those two generated enough tension over the years to give a hippie an ulcer!" Here she paused.

"It seems that everyone is finding someone, actually. I think Kenta is finally going to make a move for Mina, and Makoto's all aflutter about a guy that's been coming into her café almost everyday. Even Rei is interested in someone. Of course, she claims that he's an idiot and fumes about him, but we can all see the attraction. Soon, I'm going to be all alone. I know they won't mean to, but they'll be busy with their lives, careers, and relationships. Where will that leave me?" Her hand spasmodically clenched on the edge of the shrine. "I'll be by myself, left behind… I can't even decide on a direction to go with my life. I..I quit med school. I'm sorry, Mom, but I can't do it anymore. I've been dabbling with a camera, though, and it's pretty fun. I'm all right at it, too. Maybe I'll make a darkroom at the house. I've made some money off a couple of my prints… But it's not a career. I don't know what I'm doing anymore. It feels like everything stopped making sense since you died."

She looked up at the picture, her eyes wells of darkness and loss. "I'm lost, and I hate it. If you're up in heaven, please, send me help. Anything…maybe an angel?" A wry smile twisted her lips, a bitter expression made all the more so by the hint of sweet behind it. "Send me an angel…isn't that a song?" A sigh, and she rose to her feet. "I have to go now…the girls are expecting me. We're all going out to dinner tonight. I should get dressed and cleaned up before I go; can't have them worrying about me again." She reached out and straightened the photo tenderly. For a moment it was as if her mother looked back at her with warmth in her eyes. "I love you, Mom." Then she turned away, readying herself to face the outside world and the rest of her life again, the moment gone.


End file.
